Bed-chest unit



LINDSEY June 2, 1959 ENTOR. FREDERICK H. LINDSEY.

14 ATTORNEYS.

F. H. LINDSEY BED-CHEST UNIT June 2, 1959 2 S heets-Shee't 2 INVENTOR.FREDERICK H. LINDSEY.

M dadml Filed. July 10, 1957 r AfioRNEYs.

United States Patent- Ofiice 2,888,687 BED-CHEST Frederick H. Lindsey,Crafton, Pa.

7 Application July 1957, Serial No. 671,026

2 Claims. (Cl. 5-2

My invention relates-to bedroom furniture, particularly designed for thesmall bedrooms found in present-day apartments and homes. v

More particularly, the invention consists in an improved assembly of twobeds with one or more chests of drawers, or a chest and a vanity table,or a chest and a dresser, or the like, and in thefollowingispecification the invention will be described in exemplary wayas it is embodied in an assembly comprised of two twin beds and twochests of drawers. It is noteworthy that the assembly, even though itincludes two full-size twin beds in fixed relative vertical positionsand two chests of drawers, requires no more floor space or wall space ina room than is normally required by a standard double bed.

The object of my invention is to provide a compact bed-chest assembly orcombination, in which the beds and chests are readily accessible for useand servicing. Other objects are implicit in the following context.

In my bed-chest unit one bed is mounted in permanently fixed spacedrelation above the other, and the upper bed is laterally otfset from thelower bed by a distance approximately one-half of the bed width, toprovide a receptacle or an alcove beneath the overhang of the upper bed.In this alcove the chests of drawers are nested, with provision for thelateral or horizontal movement of the chests to and from such nestedposition beneath the upper bed.

The lower bed may be supported on four or more legs or posts, while theupper bed may be supported on three or more legs or posts. The chestsare assembled in such manner that they may be swung laterally outward ina horizontal plane from nested position in the alcove, with the effectthat both sides of the lower bed, as well as both sides of the upperbed, are freely accessible for making the beds. Additionally, suchmobility of the chests afiords ready access for cleaning the bedroomfloor beneath the furniture unit. The arrangement of the beds makes itpossible for the occupant of the lower bed to sit in an upright positionon that portion of the bed which extends laterally from beneath theupper bed. And during sleeping hours the removal of the chests ofdrawers from nested position provides at the two sides, as well as thetwo ends of the lower bed, an unrestricted circulation of air for theoccupant of the said lower bed.

The several pieces of furniture, which may be constructed in usualcommercial sizes and assembled in accordance with my invention, requirea floor area four feet ten inches by six feet eight inches, plus aboutthree feet six inches along the alcove side of the assembly to permitthe movement of the chests outwardly from nested position. The wall arearequired by the assembly in any room is only the area taken by the headend of the beds (no wall area being required to: the chests), leavingthe remaining floor area in the room free for access to the beds andchests, or to any other furniture that may be installed in the room.

= The exemplary embodiment of myiinvention is illus trated in theaccompanying drawings, in which: Fig.1 is a view in perspective of abedchest assembly, showingthe chests in nested position; v I

, Fig. 2 is a view comparable with Fig. 1, showing the chests inextended positions;

Fig. 3 is a view in perspective, illustrating a modification wherein thelower bed may be swung outwardly relatively to the upper bed and thenested chests, the lower bedin this view being shown in an outwardlyswung position; and

Fig. 4 is an outline view of the head-ends of the beds of the modifiedstructure of Fig. 3.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the beddhest assemblycomprises a lower bed 2, which may .be of conventional twin-bedconstruction, adapted to be sup ported on a bedroom floor on four legsor posts, only two of which"(3 and 4) appear at thefoot-board end of thebed, as shown in the drawings. Mounted in spaced, relation above thelower bed is an upper bed 5, which maybe an interchangeable duplicate ofthelowerbed," with the qualifications that the two legs or supportmembers 6 and 7 at the corners of the head-board end of the upper bedare of required greater length to reach the supporting floor, and that asingle leg or support member 8 extends upwardly from beside the leg 4 ofthe lower bed and medially engages the foot-board end of the upper bed.The upper bed, otherwise aligned with the lower bed, is laterally offsetfrom the said lower bed, providing an alcove or a receptacle 10 thatopens laterally along the side 9 of the lower bed and beneath theoverhang of the upper bed, in which alcove two chests of drawers 11 and12 are neatly nested. 'Ilhe chests may be mounted on casters 13, wherebythe chests may be swung laterally on their casters from nested positionfor the purposes mentioned in the foregoing specification; that is, togive access to all sides of both beds in their vertically fixedpositions to facilitate making the beds; or to enhance the circulationof air for the occupant of the lower bed; or to give better access forcleaning the floor beneath the assembly; or to place the drawers of thechests in more convenient position for use.

While the chests may be freely movable on their casters to and fromnested position in the alcove 10, I conveniently hinge, as at 16, thechest 11 at its inner corner 14 to the foot-board supporting leg 8 ofthe upper bed, and similarly hinge the chest 12 at its outer corner 15to the leg 7 of the head-board end of the upper bed. Thus, the legs 8and 7 of the foot-board and head-board supporting structures of the twobeds provide in effect vertical axes or fulcrums on which the chests maybe swung severally to and from the nested position in which they appearin Fig. 1.

In modification of the structure described, the upper bed and the chestsmay be designed normally to remain stationary, and the lower bed may bemounted on casters to swing relatively thereto, as indicated in Fig. 3.The advantages described may be realized. Fig. 4 illustrates how thehead-board ends 17 and 18 of the upper and lower beds, respectively, maybe constructed for this purpose, and preferably, if not essentially, thetwo beds may be articulated at their common corner 19, as by means ofhinges 20.

Various other modifications will occur to the artisan, without departingfrom the spirit of the invention defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A bedroom set comprising two beds, and headboard and foot-boardstructures for the common support of the two beds in permanentvertically fixed spaced relation, with the upper bed laterally ofisetfrom the Patented June 2, 1959 lower bed -and forming along one side ofthe lower bed and beneath the free overhang of said upper bed alaterally open alcove, said head-board structure comprising an elongate=supporting leg for each of the two corners of the upper'bed, anelongate supporting leg extended upwardly fromthefoot-board structureadjacent to one corner of the lower 'bed and engaged medially to theupper bed, and two-chests nested in said alcove, one corner of one ofsaid chests being hinged on a vertical axis-to said -head-boardstructure, and one corner of the other of-"said chests being hinged on avertical axis to said foot-board structure, whereby the chests may beswung laterally from said alcove into outwardly swung positions in whichboth sides of each bed are readily accessible for making the beds.

2. A bedroom set comprising a twin-bed unit having head-board andfoot-board structures for the common support of the two beds inpermanent vertically fixed spaced relation,"with the upper bed laterallyolfset from the lower bed and forming along one side of the lower bedand beneath' the free overhang of said upper bed a laterally open alcovefor the nested reception of two Chests of drawers, said head-boardstructure including corner members for vertically supporting the twocorners of each of the two beds at their head ends, and the foot-boardstructure including corner members for vertically supporting bothcorners of the lower bed and an intermediate member extending upwardlyfrom and adjacent to one corner of the lower bed and engaged with thefoot-board of the upper'bed intermediate its ends for the verticalsupport thereof, whereby chests nested in said alcove, withcorresponding end corners of the chests disposed adjacent saidintermediate foot-board member and a corresponding one of said cornerheadboard members and with the adjacent ends of the chests slightlyspaced, may be swung angularly from the alcove about said intermediatetoot-board member and the lastmentioned head-board member to give accessto both sides of both beds for making same.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 97,981Snead Dec. 14, 1869 FOREIGN PATENTS 585,202 Germany Oct. 11, 19331,031,659 France 'June 25, 1953

